Case Number 18260: Small Claims Court

THE CRAZIES (1973) (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

"We're dealing with an often-lethal, always-debilitating mutation that's
going to drive this entire town mad!"

The Case

Receiving a high-definition release to coincide with the 2010 remake, George
A. Romero's original version of The Crazies offers a tense tale of
violence and paranoia. The story takes place in the Evans City, Pennsylvania,
where a horrible virus given the code name "Trixie" has broken out.
The virus affects people in one of two ways: it either kills them or drives them
insane. At a frighteningly rapid rate, the citizens of Evans City are going mad.
Meanwhile, the military does what it can to contain the virus. As things get
worse, the military begins to contemplate the unthinkable: wiping out all of
Evans City in the hopes of preventing the virus from spreading to the rest of
the country. Can a cure be found before drastic action has to be taken?

Well, no fair giving you the answer to that question, but I can tell you
that The Crazies is one of Romero's stronger films outside his zombie
classics (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead). The blend
of social commentary and gruesome violence the director is known for can be
found on full display in The Crazies, though this time there's a bit more
emphasis on the violence and a bit less emphasis on the commentary. Frankly, the
social message Romero has to offer is pretty simple: the military is a group of
blundering idiots who are more (unintentionally) dangerous to American society
than any of our enemies might be. There's some validity to some of Romero's
criticisms, but it's a too-simplistic viewpoint that comes across as too forced
at times.

In this case, Romero's film succeeds thanks to his more fundamental skills
as an action/horror filmmaker. The movie does a terrific job of creating a sense
of crackling energy, with editing that moves at an astonishing speed for a film
made in 1973. It's nervous, twitchy stuff that cuts frantically between sweaty,
panicky, angry characters shouting terse warnings at each other. These
impressively feverish dialogue exchanges are punctuated by increasingly frequent
instances of crazed violence. The violence is occasionally undercut by the
low-budget special effects (a pre-credits sequence in which we discover that a
man has gone mad and murdered his wife is nearly made laughable when we see the
goopy substance posing as blood spattered all over the woman's neck), but
Romero's intense direction goes a long way towards compensating for that.

The film's opening suggests that the film is a gratuitous B-movie: the
aforementioned pre-credits sequence also involves the attempted murder of two
super-innocent young children, while we get a generous dose of nudity in the
scene that immediately follows. While the film does indulge in moments that feel
exploitative, there are powerfully iconic images to be found that transcend the
film's trashier tendencies (the scene in which a priest burns himself alive as a
sacrifice to God, or the moment in which a woman wanders through a blood-soaked
field with a broom, senselessly attempting to sweep away the mess).

Acting is merely adequate throughout, with no-name actors Harold Wayne
Jones, Lane Carroll, and Will McMillan taking the lead roles (all three had
little to no film experience when they were cast in The Crazies, though
McMillan has enjoyed a somewhat active career playing bit roles in the years
since). Everyone delivers their lines competently (save for a small handful of
amusingly bad readings), but it's all very basic work completely lacking in
nuance or complexity.

The transfer isn't going to knock anyone's socks off, but it must be
remembered that The Crazies is a little, low-budget film. Keeping the age
and limitations of the film's budget in mind, the movie looks reasonably good
and has been very well-preserved. There's a steady stream of scratches and
flecks throughout, but they aren't too distracting. Likewise, the slightly thick
grain avoids being detrimental to the viewing experience. Flesh tones are a bit
reddish, but blacks are reasonably deep and detail is decent throughout. The
mono audio is also adequate, but suffers from slight distortion at times. The
score also sounds slightly weak at times, particularly some of the martial
material that appears so frequently. Gunshots are pretty loud in contrast to
everything else. All of the extras are hauled over from the previous DVD
release: a commentary with Romero, a featurette called "The Cult Film
Legacy of Lynn Lowry," and some trailers.

Though it has a number of minor issues that prevent it from becoming a
horror classic, The Crazies is a compelling film that's worth a look
(particularly for Romero fans that haven't yet had a chance to see it). The
Blu-ray doesn't bring anything too new to the party, but it's the best way to go
if you haven't seen it yet.